"Horizon Forbidden West" is finally out to the general public after experiencing a delay that pushed its release date to Feb. 18. But according to game director Matthis DeJonge, this was for the best interest of the studio's employees.
This screenshot was taken while the writer was playing.
GamesRadar reports that the reason for the delay was to avoid crunch at the studio. For the uninitiated, "crunch" is a game development term used to normally refer to the time when a studio works almost round the clock to rush the completion of a game.
Usually, a crunch will mean that the game's development team would be working really long hours, with inordinate amounts of overtime and sometimes barely even a chance to go home and rest.
DeJonge, in an interview with the Dutch website NU, revealed that crunching was really just not part of Guerilla Games' work culture. He states that the company is "very aware" of the disadvantages of crunching to complete a game, which is why they include it a lot in planning their development cycles.
As a result, this led to a company culture where it seems like working on holidays is frowned upon. DeJonge mentions how Guerilla mentioned there would be absolutely no work at the studio, telling everyone to have a two-week vacation. He even states that the company HQ was completely closed, and no one could go work there even if they wanted to.
Well then, maybe their welcoming company culture is why "Horizon Forbidden West" is proving to be one of the best games of the current (and last) generation. Various reviews of the heralded PS4 and PS5 exclusive have come out positive, with people calling it an amazing sendoff for the PlayStation 4 generation.
With this admission, Guerilla Games is likely showing the rest of the industry that you don't need to abide by the so-called "crunch culture" to deliver stellar gameplay experiences. A few notable games that underwent a crunch during development include "Forbidden West's" fellow PlayStation exclusive "The Last Of Us Part II" and Rockstar's open-world Western opus, "Red Dead Redemption II."
Read also: 'The Last Of Us' TV Series Will 'Live Up' To The Games, Says Pedro Pascal
Why Avoiding Crunch Is The Best Choice For 'Horizon Forbidden West'
To say that crunch culture is an ugly truth of the video game industry is an insane understatement. Well, that's because it really is. There's not a lot of good stuff happening during a crunch, and most of the time, it doesn't even result in better games.
Aside from basically forcing developers to slave away on a project with a fast-approaching deadline, some game studios are doing even more sinister stuff. One example shared by Medium contributor Deepanshu Tyagi involved one of the most notorious game companies ever to exist: EA.
The story goes that EA was exposed by an anonymous letter from the spouse of a developer, who alleged "devastating" working conditions. In the letter (which can be viewed on the website EA-Spouse.livejournal.com), the spouse accuses the company of allegedly forcing developers to work as much as 13 hours (9:00 A.M.-10:00 P.M.) seven days a week at the peak of the crunch.
There's even more to the story, and frankly, it might deserve an article of its own. But you get the point. Guerilla Games' conscious decision to avoid crunch with "Horizon Forbidden West" is likely what saved the game from being just another sequel with unfulfilled expectations.
Related: 'Nintendo Switch Sports' Playtesters Are 'Forbidden' From Sharing Info Publicly
Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
